Özgür Özel's first reaction to Erdoğan's 'I'm in' for candidacy! 'If he wants to run, the deadline is...'
AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responded "I'm in" to a question from İbrahim Tatlıses at his party's Şanlıurfa Provincial Congress, asking, "Are you in for the presidency in the next term?" CHP leader Özgür Özel commented on Erdoğan's remarks about running again, stating, "Let him come immediately. If they want, we can make the decision for an election this week. If he needs some time, we had pointed him toward late October or early November 2025. If he wants to be a candidate, that is the deadline."
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Attending the AKP Şanlıurfa Provincial Congress, İbrahim Tatlıses asked AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, "Are you in or out for the presidency in the next term? Let's get this commitment." Erdoğan responded, "If you are in, I am in," signaling his intent to run again.
Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel spoke for the first time regarding Erdoğan's remarks on running again.
Speaking to reporters in İzmir, Özel said "Challenge accepted" and provided a deadline for Erdoğan's candidacy.
Özel stated the following:
"If he is in, we are in. Let him come immediately. If they want, we can make the decision for an election this week. If he needs some time, we had pointed him toward late October or early November 2025. If he wants to be a candidate, that is the deadline... If he wants to hold it in March, then in March; if he wants to hold it in October, then in October...
We are ready from yesterday, prepared from today. We are impatient for the handover of power. Let him come and be a candidate.
He shouldn't say he will be a candidate, act as if he has the power to be re-elected, and then play games or avoid the fight. Let him instruct his parliamentary group immediately, and let's make the decision for an election this week."
"ONLY HUNGRY CHICKENS DREAM OF THAT"
Özel was reminded of the words of Chief Advisor to the President Mehmet Uçum, who said, "An exceptional opportunity for President Erdoğan's candidacy could come onto the agenda in the second half of 2027."
Özel said, "That is a pipe dream. Only hungry chickens dream of that. The nation does not have the strength to endure until then. The nation is in difficulty. Who guarantees you will stay there until that day that you dare to say such a thing? They should wake up from that dream. If they have the courage, if they trust themselves, we can make the decision for an election this week. Challenge accepted," he stated.